TomTom Online Route Planner offers intelligent traffic mapping

TomTom have launched a new online route planner, which allows travellers to pre-plan their journey with access to the company's traffic delay data. The system, which is open to free registration to both owners and non-owners of TomTom hardware, offers door-to-door route planning options to any address, taking into account real-time and historic information on traffic flows. It also includes daily map updates.

TomTom's HD Traffic system is used to add dynamic traffic information together with 500 billion historic speed measurements which, via the company's IQ Routes technology, predicts where hold-ups are likely to occur and plans a journey to take that into account. Any map corrections made through TomTom Map Share - which allows users to correct outdated mapping data, such as when road layouts are changed - are added to the online route planer daily.

The TomTom Online Route Planner is currently in closed beta, available with traffic data in a limited number of countries. At present there is no publicized way to transfer routes from the online service to a standalone TomTom device.

Press Release:

TomTom Announces Online Route Planner

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands -- TomTom, the world’s leading navigation solutions provider today announces the introduction of a new route planner that will be accessible via http://routes.tomtom.com. The free web based Route Planner allows users to easily pre-plan a route and obtain precise travel and arrival times before setting off on their journey. In addition, it incorporates all TomTom’s knowledge and experience in planning the best routes at all times. In this first phase, the TomTom online Route Planner will be accessible for a selected group of users taking part in a closed test programme (BETA test programme) starting this week.

In a world first, the TomTom online Route Planner gives users door-to-door route planning options to any address, taking into account real-time and historic information on traffic flows throughout the day. It uniquely incorporates dynamic traffic information (through HD Traffic™*) as well as 500 billion historic speed measurements of roads across the world (through IQ Routes™). This allows users to pre-plan their routes based on facts, rather than estimates, resulting in very precise travel time predictions. In addition, map corrections that are made by TomTom users through Map Share™ are regularly uploaded to the Route Planner, so users always have access to the most accurate routes based on the latest map information.

“The introduction of the online Route Planner marks an important step in our strategy to make our award-winning navigation available for all users, regardless of the platform that is used”, says Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s Chief Executive Officer. “Users that do not have a navigation device can now also benefit from our high-quality routing before starting their journey, giving them a chance to plan their day better than ever before”.

Depending on the success and feedback of the BETA programme, the online Route Planner will gradually be rolled out to users worldwide. The route planner is currently available in six languages including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.

* The online Route Planner will feature HD Traffic in Germany, UK, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. In other countries, TomTom’s original traffic service (based on GPRS and TMC) may be included depending on availability.